Key Terms

• Nearshore Zone - Coastal area between mean high tide and mean low tide
• Evaporation - Process of liquid water turning into water vapor
• Longshore Drift - Movement of sediment along a coastline by waves
• Sediment Cell - Coastal area where sediment movement is self-contained
• Fetch - Distance water travels under wind influence
• Aeolian Processes - Wind activities like erosion, transport, and deposition
• Wave Period - Time for wave crests to pass a fixed point
• Swell Waves - Mechanical waves propagating on water-air interface
• Storm Waves - Rise in water level due to strong wind driving seawater
• Swash - Turbulent water layer washing up post-wave break
• Backwash - Water running back down the beach
• Constructive Wave - Low, flat waves with long wavelength and weak backwash
• Destructive Wave - High, short waves with strong backwash and erosion
• Tide - Rising and falling of sea due to moon and sun attraction
• Tidal Range - Vertical difference between high and low tide
• Rip Currents - Strong surface current flowing seaward intermittently
• Cusps - Shoreline formations of sediment in an arc pattern
• Ocean Currents - Seasonal sea water movement due to various forces
• Chemical Weathering - Decomposition of rocks via weak chemical reactions with water
• Oxidation - Absorption of oxygen by rock minerals
• Carbonation - Process where CO2 leads to solution weathering
• Solution - Chemical weathering dissolving rock minerals
• Suspension - Rocks carried by river currents
• Hydrolysis - Solid material dissolved by water
• Hydration - Rocks breakdown due to wetting and drying cycles
• Rock Fall - Rapid free-fall of rocks from cliffs
• Rock Slides - Quick downslope movement of rock masses
• Abrasion - Grinding down of cliff surfaces by rock and sand
• Attrition - Breaking and smoothing of rocks by wave action
• Hydraulic Action - Air compression weakening cliffs during wave breaks
• Suspension (Geological) - Fine particles carried in water, making it cloudy
• Saltation - Bouncing of sediment along the sea bed
• Traction - Rolling of pebbles and larger sediment on sea bed
• Longshore Drift (LSD) - Sediment movement along a coastline by waves
• Deposition - Laying down of transported sediment as energy declines
• Settling Velocity - Speed for suspended particles to be deposited
• Levees - Coarse deposits ridges elevated above floodplains
• Crevasse Splays - Low-lying sediment areas between levees
• Flocculation - Clay particles aggregation by salt, preventing suspension
• Deflation - Erosion of clay and silt particles by wind